Innersole forming strip

ABSTRACT

An innersole forming strip from which innersoles can be prepared suitable for use in a wide variety of shoe styles and sizes by transverse alternate direction die-cutting. The strip is formed by skiving fiberboard on one surface with two bands spaced on either side of a non-thinned central band.

United States Patent Lehner 51 May 30, 1972 54] INNERSOLE FORMING STRIP[56] References Cited [72] Inventor: Robert M. Lehner, Golden Beach,Fla. UNITED STATES PATENTS Assigneer yn- Industries, Saw, Maine2,214,461 9/1940 Hendry ..83/176 [22] Filed: Jam 23, 1970 2,902,0919/1959 Dahle [21] Appl. No.: 5,217 Primary Examiner-Frank T. YostAttorney-Joseph Zallen [52] US. Cl ..83/2, 83/5, 83/39, TR

83/436, 8.3/519 [57] ABS CT [51] Int. Cl ..B26d 9/00 An innersoleforming strip from which innersoles can be [58] Field of Search..83/4-7, l 1, 12, prepared suitable for use in a wide variety of shoestyles and sizes by transverse alternate direction die-cutting. Thestrip is formed by skiving fiberboard on one surface with two bandsspaced on either side of a non-thinned central band.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Flgnres Patented May 30-, 1972 3 Shuts-Shut 1Patented May 30-, 1972 3,665,793

3 Shuts-Shut 2 INNERSOLE FORMING STRIP BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a novel innersole forming strip and a method andapparatus for its formation. The strip is die-cut into a plurality offinished innersoles.

In the manufacture of innersoles, panicularly in the case where they areto be used in cemented sole constructions, the innersole must havedifferent properties in its various portions. Thus, the heel portionshould be rigid and relatively thick and the shank portion rigid andrelatively thick. However, the forepart or ball portion should beflexible and relatively thin.

The ball, orforepart, while being flexible, must also have suff cientlateral stability to withstand the pressure exerted during the lastingoperation without buckling. This is necessary to provide a well definedline in that area to facilitate later shoemaking operations and assistin the provision of a tailored finish and shape retention qualitiesduring wear. Graduation from one thickness of material to another must.be smoothly contoured.

. One conventional method of making such structured innersoles is tocombine various materials of suitable specification in their appropriatelocations. These are applied together, which procedure involves lapskiving, cementing and assembling of each piece. When the size and styleranges required are taken into consideration, considerable inventory ofvarious pieces is involved. In practice this conventional method hasdisadvantages such as labor cost and the utmost precision required toassemble the pieces so that the splice as made is absolutely smooth. Byreason of the difiiculty of providing smooth assembly of the pieces,ledges and bumps are common which result in bumpy bottoms on the shoes,discomfort to the wearer, broken socklinings after wear and splicesbreaking down. Also, in order to provide lateral stability at the ballor forepart section, expensive flexible material must be used.

Another conventional method comprises skiving a single sole innersoleblank of suitable material, making an innersole which is built in goodshoes piece by piece as the shoe is made.

One object of this invention is to provide a novel innersole formingstrip which is so constructed that only die-cutting is required toprovide a plurality of finished innersoles each having the desiredproperties in its various portions.

A further object of this invention is to provide such an innersoleforming strip which uses a minimum of expensive materials such asflexible plastic with a maximum of inexpensive material such asfiberboard to yield high quality innersoles of desired construction anddimensions.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent fromthe description and claims which follow and from the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an oblique top view of theapparatus of this invention. 1

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the under surface of the fiberboard strip afterit emerges from the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a transverse section along line 33 of FIG. 2, slightlyenlarged.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a sole which has been die-cut from the stripillustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the sole illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an elevation of a sole similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 4and 5 but which has been subsequently treated on the other surface withslashing as shown in phantom.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention comprises generally forming aninnersole forming strip from which a plurality of innersoles can beprepared suitable for use in a wide variety of shoe styles bytransverse, alternate direction die-cutting. The innersole forming stripcomprises an integral, non-spliced strip of fiberboard which is flat onone surface and has on the opposite surface two longitudinally uniformthinned bands in the potential forepart sections spaced on either sideof a non-thinned central band. The non-thinned central band registerswith the shank and heel portions of the alternately oriented die-cuts.The width of the strip of fiberboard is approximately that of thecomposite length of two alternately positioned soles nesting in theshank and heel sections. The thinned bands of potential forepartsections are formed by skiving one surface of the fiberboard strip.Where even greater flexibility is desired than that provided bythinning, the portion of the opposite surface which registers with thethinned portion is slashed.

The specifications of the innersole determine the specifications of theinnersole forming strip. Where exceptional flexibility is required, alongitudinal strip of thin flexible material such as plastic or foamrubber is adhered to the first or nonskived surface in selectedlocations, usually including the forepart region. After the innersoleforming strip of this invention has been made, the only operationrequired to form a plurality of finished soles is the alternatedie-cutting. In this fashion, a shoe manufacturer may buy one type ofinnersole forming strip and use it to produce a plurality of sizes,shapes and designs of innersoles merely by having the appropriate dies.

The apparatus especially preferred for the present invention comprises aframe, a pair of rotatable rolls including an upper matrix roll and alower feed roll and a knife assembly positioned adjacent to the outputside of the bite of the rolls and cooperating with the matrices on theupper ormatrix roll and the feed roll to skive the fiberboard sheet intwo bands. Where slashing is desired to increase flexibility, theapparatus includes a second pair of rolls beyond the skiving area whichinclude a bottom feed roll and anupper cutting roll having a pluralityof slashing blades registering on the opposite surface to the thinned,skived bands. This upper rollcan also have protuberances for embossingperipheral pinpoints or recesses in the potential toe portions to aid inadhesion of the upperto'the inner sole. Such apparatus can be used forthick as well as thin sheets of fiberboard and can be adapted for toeskiving, where desired, by using a matrix and knife along the potentialtoe section bands.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, there isillustrated therein an apparatus 10 comprising a frame 11 supporting amotor and gear boxl2, matrix roll 30, cooperable with feed. roll 40. Thematrix roll 30 comprises matrices 35 and 36 held in position by lockingrolls 3] and 32 and 33 and 34 respectively. The roll is held in place bymounting member 17 extending through support block 27.

In front of the pair of rolls 30 and 40 is a knife assembly whichincludes a pair of blades 20 and 21 which are arranged to be adjustablyco-acting with the matrices 35 and 36. The adjustments comprise threadedvertical rods 18 and 19, which are attached to base plate 22 as well aslongitudinal slots in the knife blades 20 and 21 cooperating with nuts20a, 20b, 21a and 21b.

Forward of the knife and matrix assemblies are a pair of rolls 45 and 52supported on blocks 55 and 56. Upper block 45 contains slashing roll 50and slashing roll 51, each held by spacers 46 and 47 and 48 and 49 andcontaining cutting edges 50a and 51a adapted to slash the upper surfaceof the fiberboard 23 which is passing through the machine. The finishedboard is carried away on a belt 13 actuated through a pulley 14.

A sheet of fiberboard 23 enters the machine from the rear, being guidedby brackets 24 and 25 and has its under surface skived by thecombination of the knife blades 20 and 21 in conjunction with thematrices 35 and 36. As it passes further its upper surface is slashed at2311 and 23c by the cutting blades 50:: and 51a of the slashing roll.When the board is not slashed but only skived, it is designated as 29with the under, skived surface being designated as 290 and 29b. In thecase of the strip which has been both skived and slashed, the undersurface which is skived is designated as 23d and 23e.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, innersole forming strip 29 haslongitudinal skived bands 29a and 29b. The phantom outlines 53 and 54show the alternate, nesting position for diecutting wherein the forepartareas are in the skived zones while the shank and heel areas are in thecentral, unskived bands. Sole 57 which has been cut from the formingstrip 29 comprises, as a result, an unthinned shank and heel portion 60,a thinned and hence flexible forepart section 59 and an unthinned toeportion 58.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, a sole 157 which has been slashed in additionto being skived comprises an unthinned shank and heel portion 160, anunthinned toe portion 158 and a thinned forepart section 159 havingslashes 161 on its opposite surface.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of producing an innersole forming strip comprising formingan integral, non-spliced strip of fiberboard whose width isapproximately that of the composite length of two alternately positionedsoles nesting in their shank and heel sections, and skiving one surfaceof the strip longitudinally on both potential forepart sections so as toform two thinned bands on either side of a non-thinned central band.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein as an additional step the b. a pair ofrotatable rolls comprising an upper roll (30) and a lower roll (40);said upper roll (30) having a matrix (35, 36) on each side and saidlower roll (40) being a feed roll, said rolls being adapted to receiveand pull through a sheet of fiberboard (23), and c. a knife assembly(20) adapted for cooperation with said matrices and feed roll to skivesaid sheet (23); a second pair of rotatable rolls, namely an upper roll(45) and a lower feed roll (52) being positioned beyond said knife; saidupper roll (45) having portions adapted to slash or emboss said sheet(23). 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said upper roll (45) has apair of cutting sections (50a and 51a) adapted to slash said sheet (23)on the surface opposite the skived portions.

1. A method of producing an innersole forming strip comprising forming an integral, non-spliced strip of fiberboard whose width is approximately that of the composite length of two alternately positioned soles nesting in their shank and heel sections, and skiving one surface of the strip longitudinally on both potential forepart sections so as to form two thinned bands on either side of a non-thinned central band.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein as an additional step the portion of the opposite surface registering with said thinned bands is slashed.
 3. An apparatus for producing an innersole forming strip comprising: a. a frame (11); b. a pair of rotatable rolls comprising an upper roll (30) and a lower roll (40); said upper roll (30) having a matrix (35, 36) on each side and said lower roll (40) being a feed roll, said rolls being adapted to receive and pull through a sheet of fiberboard (23), and c. a knife assembly (20) adapted for cooperation with said matrices and feed roll to skive said sheet (23); a second pair of rotatable rolls, namely an upper roll (45) and a lower feed roll (52) being positioned beyond said knife; said upper roll (45) having portions adapted to slash or emboss said sheet (23).
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said upper roll (45) has a pair of cutting sections (50a and 51a) adapted to slash said sheet (23) on the surface opposite the skived portions. 